I very recently bought a used Pixel 6 with a replacement screen, not thinking too much of it. I even made sure that the screen looked good during pickup.
One thing I missed though, was that apparently my Pixel doesn’t have a fingerprint sensor anymore. I did some research, apparently it’s quite easy to break the fingerprint sensor (or some places simply just don’t include a sensor in the repair?) when replacing the screen.
Today I also noticed (through Show refresh rate in developer options) that my screen will only do 60 Hz as well.
Also I have stupidly high battery drain, I’m not 100% if that’s related though.
Long story short, learn from my mistakes and either don’t buy a used phone with a replacement screen or carefully test all functionalities associated with the screen, mainly high refresh rate and the fingerprint sensor.
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Now that you mention it, my battery got worse after replacing the screen on a 5, though I can’t confirm. I never thought of it but it makes sense. Thanks for the tip
It’s likely an aftermarket screen. I got my screen replaced on my Pixel 7 Pro, the fingerprint sensor never worked again. It also had a lower refresh rate, just like yours.
uBreakiFix is an authorized Google repair place if anyone needs this done but doesn’t want to themselves.
iFixit has OEM screens for a relatively good price, they even have the fingerprint sensor pre-installed, so no transfer of the old one is necessary.
I replaced the screen on my Pixel 7 a while ago and it took roughly 2 hours, most of that was scraping off the old nasty adhesive. Color quality, refresh rate and everything else was the same.
Newer pixels (3 and up) need to have their fingerprint sensor “recalibrated” after replacement. Not sure if that’s the issue going on here, it’s very possible the hardware is disconnected, but it’s worth a shot.
Yeah I found that link too, Thanks, but that’s not the case here (I did also run the tool like 3 times).
This tool will only work if the fingerprint sensor shows up in settings and actively tells you it has to be recalibrated (neither was the case for me).
I figured that would be the case. If you’re comfortable opening the phone, and a return isn’t an option, the fingerprint module is only about $15 on eBay. iFixit also has very detailed guides for disassembly. Do keep in mind the screen itself is ~$140, so if you’re okay without it, it may be best to leave it.
You’ll also probably want to buy the adhesive for the screen to get it watertight, which is only like $5, ~$10 with shipping but definitely worth it unless you’ve got a tube of B-7000.
Thanks for all your research, but due to battery drain and the cost of the screen (and me being 2/2 in terms of opening phones and breaking screens), I’m either going to keep the phone or sell it and try buying a “normal” Pixel 6.
Haha I’ve broken a number of screens taking apart phones as well, I totally get it.
If you’re gonna be rocking it for a while, you might want to consider shelling out a bit more for one of the Pixel 8s. I saw you mentioned you’re on graphene in a different comment, and the 8s are supposed to get 7 years of hardware support from Google, whereas the 6 has 3 out of the promised 5 years remaining. The 8s also have hardware memory tagging support from graphene, which isn’t available on the other models due to the processor architecture supporting it.
I’ve owned a 6, 7 pro, and 8 pro. By far the fingerprint reader has been the best on the 8 pro. Seems they solved the long waits from the 6 and 7 series.
Not to mention the flat screen as well as DP Alt mode (usage for this apparently coming in Android 15).
If you’re on more of a budget, keep in mind that the a series are really close to the normal models, with small downgrades like wireless charging & IP rating, but can be decently cheaper. The pixel 7a came out in May last year, you may be able to get a slightly better deal if you wait for the Google I/O announcement.
I had issues with battery drain in a Pixel 5 Pro. From 36ish hours to under 24 until I switched to GrapheneOS.
I’ve actually only used it with Graphene OS. I even tried factory resetting it and then just leaving it. That still led to super high battery drain, so I guess that screen is definitely acting up.
(I’m in no way blaming Graphene OS, my friend with a “normal” Pixel 6 says he has amazing battery life with it).
Where can I find these people to break my fingerprint sensor?
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Am I the only one who despises biometrics?
I’m fine with fingerprint, actually prefer it to most other forms of authentication, but hate facial recognition and my new R Celly phone’s method just seems unsanitary.
For anything I don’t control, like door locks at work, I’m with you.
For a device controlled by me, the tradeoff for convenience is so much better.
If it’s properly implemented, extracting biometric features is hard, so stolen fingerprints are less of a concern.
It allows me to use a long password, which in android also serves as an encryption key for the filesystem, while allowing me to unlock my phone without entering that password every time.
The fear of forced bio entry is front of mind for me, but I do acknowledge that if someone is restraining me and breaking into my device, I have much bigger problems.
I really like the convenience and also added security. For example, while using my half broken Pixel, I noticed two things:
- Unlocking with two hands and a pin is pretty fast, but with one hand it takes forever compared to fingerprint.
- For “secure” apps (Aegis, Bitwarden, Banking apps), it’s quite nice to use my fingerprint instead of master passwords. The odds of someone managing to get in there by spoofing my fingerprint or something are practically 0, whereas when I would just use the same pin as my phone it would be stupidly insecure. Even when using a separate 6 character pin, it’s still very easy for bystanders to watch and see the pin (and it’s slower and less convenient).
Also in terms of general security I’m perfectly fine with it, as my actual fingerprint never leaves the phone (AFAIK not even the sensor but don’t quote me on that) and I can just purposefully scan the wrong finger or a dirty finger 5 times and it’s locked.
That is also the reason why I absolutely hate face unlock, I’ve quite often just taken a random friends phone, held it up to their face for 1 second, and I was in. That stuff is scary.
